I received an interesting press release on the 2014 Pennsylvania bear harvest. I have always thought of Pennsylvania as a prime destination for the out-of-state whitetail hunter, but the black bear report put the Keystone state in a whole new category. There were 173,523 bear hunting licenses sold for the four-day regular bear season. The black bear population is estimated …

One of the most prized trophies World War II veterans brought back from the European Theater of Operations was a drilling combination shotgun rifle. These were three-barreled guns with two shotgun barrels mounted to a third rifle barrel. Chiappa firearms have come out with their own version of a drilling called the Triple Tom. The Triple Tom is two side-by-side 12-gauge barrels mounted …

So, it’s January and we just got a brief thaw, so what is available for the hunter? Unique to New Hampshire is a night hunting season for coyotes in January, February and March and not without restrictions. Lights may be used, except from a motor vehicle, snowmobile or OHRV. Coyote night hunters are …

This past week we experienced some typical winter temperatures to make ice. From an ice fisherman’s standpoint, there is good ice and bad ice. The good ice is the clear crystal ice. The bad ice is the “slush” ice or “snow ice” that has about 50 percent of …

One of the most exciting product rollouts came from Federal, a product by the name of the Trophy Copper Muzzleloader Bullet. The solid copper bullet was engineered to use its exclusive B.O.R. Lock MZ System, providing for outstanding accuracy in a non-sabot design that’s easy to load, scrubs …

Tomorrow ends the archery deer season and brings to a close another memorable deer hunting year. In checking in with Brad Marshall, he has checked in the second lowest number of deer ever – 54 as of Dec. 12. His lowest year for checking in deer was 1996, …

The New Hampshire Youth Deer Hunt Weekend is history and 367 deer were taken. This represents a 24-percent reduction from the 2013 total of 483 deer. But this also is slightly above average when compared to the average …

This year’s archery deer season take is 22 percent lower than last year, according to initial reports. My view of the decline is due to weather and an abundance of acorns. In order of sweetness, scrub oak and …

New Hampshire Youth Deer Hunt Weekend is slated for next Saturday and Sunday. This special weekend gives kids age 15 or younger the opportunity to go deer hunting with an adult mentor, without the pressure of competing with thousands of adult hunters. The adult hunter must be licensed …

The next special season coming up is the fall shotgun turkey season, which runs from Oct. 13-17. There are several key differences between the spring season and the fall season. The fall season is an either-sex season and the shooting hours are a half hour before sunrise to …

Yesterday started the countdown until the Oct. 1 small game season opener. Stocked pheasants always generate the most hunter activity at the release sites. This year, 12,260 pheasants will be released in all 10 counties with an average …

As we inch forward toward the autumnal equinox, those who suggested that falls colors would be arriving early this year owing to some of the cooler temperatures this summer have been wrong so far. My appointment book lists the equinox falling on Sept. 22 at 10:29 p.m. My …

The 2014-15 New Hampshire Hunting and Trapping Digest is now available. The cover is graced with a black lab-retrieved woodcock. It is quite a cover. All of the new law changes are listed in the digest. It is interesting to note that 2015 is the 150th anniversary of …

Fish and Game will be holding a public hearing on the proposed season dates and bag limits for the 2014 waterfowl hunting season on Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. at Fish and Game headquarters. Apparently, owing to the …